IPL 2019: Match 38, SRH vs KKR - Predicted Playing XI, Preview, and Key Players

Kolkata Knight Riders will bid to end their losing streak when they go up against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their den at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday, April 21.

Head to Head Overall Stats: The Knight Riders and Sunrisers have occupied the ground on 16 occasions, and the former holds an edge with ten wins out of those contests.

Head to Head at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium: The stats for Hyderabad's home stadium tend to favour the visitors, with three wins in five games.

Previous IPL 2019 face-off: In their earlier clash on March 24, the Sunrisers rode on David Warner's 83 to post commanding 181/3 in their 20 overs, but were overhauled by Andre Russell's firepower to suffer a six wicket defeat.

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Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Source - iplt20.com)

With four wins and an equal number of defeats, the Sunrisers Hyderabad find themselves wandering in the lower half of the points table, and they would love to reach the upper half with a strong show against the Knight Riders.

Batting

Key Batsmen - David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, and Kane Williamson

David Warner (450 runs) currently leads the Orange Cap charts, while Jonny Bairstow (365 runs) is Sunrisers' next best batsman and their chances of revival mostly depend on these two.

Except for the opening pair, the only batsman to cross triple figure mark is Vijay Shankar with 139 runs and his performance will be crucial, in case openers fail to provide a flying start. Meanwhile, the management will also need their skipper Kane Williamson to pick some pace and play a significant knock against the Knight Riders.

Bowling

Key Bowlers - Sandeep Sharma, Rashid Khan, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Rashid Khan and Sandeep Sharma have been the standout performers for the Sunrisers. Both have shared eight scalps so far and the skipper back them to slow down the scoring rate and pick few wickets during the middle overs. Except these two Khaleel Ahmed along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar to be the skipper's go to options during the powerplay and death overs.

Expected Playing XI

Kane Williamson (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Vijay Shankar, Yusuf Pathan, Deepak Hooda, David Warner, Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, and K Khaleel Ahmed.

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Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders (Source - iplt20.com)

The Kolkata Knight Riders seems to have lost their momentum and the table toppers of first half now finds them on sixth spot after their successive defeats against Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Batting

Key Batsmen - Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, and Chris Lynn

The over dependence on Nitish Rana (286 runs) and Andre Russell's (377 runs) power hitting is hurting the Knight Riders badly, which was the case against Bangalore as well. Both are performing consistently for the side, but they need a strong support from the top order batters.

While Chris Lynn (213 runs) and Robin Uthappa (220 runs) have also been among runs in earlier games, but were found struggling against RCB, and the team will need these two to lay down strong contributions on Sunday.

Bowling

Key Bowlers - Piyush Chawla, Sunil Narine, and Kuldeep Yadav

Andre Russell (7 wickets), Sunil Narine (6 wickets) and Piyush Chawla (6 wickets) are the key strikers in this bowling lineup and the skipper will need these three to provide breakthroughs during the initial overs.

While Harry Gurney is also playing a viable role in the bowling department having picked four wickets in his four outings, and he is another bowler to watch out for against the SRH.

Expected Playing XI

Dinesh Karthik (c, wk), Andre Russell, Shubman Gill, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Harry Gurney, Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa and Nitish Rana.

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